...Crack!
A crimson flash struck down.
It tore through a corner of the desolate land.
Reverence welled up in the bloodshot pupils of the sky.
The demons who saw the image reflected in those eyes were ecstatic.
The Four Heavenly Kings, who had witnessed the sight firsthand, were horrified.
"......!"
Sirgi felt a chilling dread seize her heart. Hartok involuntarily swallowed dry. Baal realized with a jolt the uncontrollable trembling of his shoulders.
And all of them had the same thought.
Thank goodness we didn't step forward.
That was a close one.
'That bastard Credos, he's perfectly fine...!'
All eyes turned to Asurat.
The Blood Flame of the Four Heavenly Kings, who had boldly stepped forward with flair, had now turned pitch black—charred like coal.
Was he dead? No, he wasn't.
His body, kneeling on the ground, faintly twitched.
"..."
Perhaps it would've been better if he had died.
Cold sweat trickled down their spines.
Before the rest of the Four Heavenly Kings could even process what had happened, the Demon King Credos, Kim Jangcheol, stood tall before Asurat, as if to reign over him.
"...….."
Kim Jangcheol's heart was pounding wildly too.
A single strike.
Seeing Asurat, brought to his knees, a wreck in the blink of an eye—it made reality feel strangely distant.
At the same time, the memory of this monster who had ruthlessly torn him apart in-game countless times came to mind.
'Back in the first playthrough... when I first met this guy, I didn't stand a chance.'
It was hard.
Not just hard—brutal.
He had wondered if they really intended for players to beat this.
Fast movements with off-beat timing.
Fake-outs were the norm, and his attack range was wide.
The invincibility frames after his attacks were practically a scam.
How many times had he died trying to beat him?
How many attempts had it taken?
Died once.
Then three times.
Then ten.
In the end, it was only on the 128th attempt that he finally defeated Asurat for the first time in his first playthrough.
And by the time he reached the 19th cycle?
With no equipment.
Completely barehanded.
Even with his eyes closed.
He could take Asurat down without getting hit even once.
He'd ended up becoming a sweaty tryhard without meaning to.
".......So, do you still think you can challenge me?"
A memory put aside.
At the edge of it, he asked Asurat.
Asurat couldn't even answer properly.
"S-Sorry... I-I'm s-sor...ry..."
…Twitch, twitch.
Clinging desperately to his last breath, barely managing to stay conscious—that was all he could do.
But Kim Jangcheol wasn't satisfied.
He couldn't afford to be arrogant or complacent.
'Today, I just got lucky.'
Asurat had charged in alone. Thanks to that, the other Three Heavenly Kings hadn't joined in.
But if they had all attacked together? If that had happened—
'I'd be a meatball so mangled no one could recognize me.'
No matter how perfectly he memorized their patterns in-game, that only applied to one-on-one boss fights.
If they all came at him at once, it'd be a completely different story. He was certain he wouldn't last even 30 seconds, let alone a minute.
'Besides...'
He remembered what made Asurat truly terrifying. In fact, it wasn't the flashy attacks, the complex feints, or the absurdly high damage.
The fastest and flashiest barrage came from Sirgi. The most devious pattern-based combat belonged to Hartok. The most devastating single-hit damage? No one surpassed Baal.
So what was Asurat's true strength?
It was this—
'Regeneration.'
...Squirm, squirm...!
Kim Jangcheol's gaze fixed on Asurat.
Veins and arteries spread like tendrils across the demon's body, pulsing with energy. At the same time, the burn marks and lightning damage across his body visibly began to heal.
'That's why...'
You can't relax just because he's been taken down once.
Even now, though he bows his head and begs for forgiveness, the moment you let your guard down, he'll stab a blade right into your back.
Even now. It's there. Even as he kneels, as he lowers his head, the glint in his eyes is secretly gleaming.
Looking for an opening born from carelessness.
'One more time.'
So he'll never dare challenge again.
So he'll never even think of pulling something like this again.
With that conclusion, he raised his hand. He flung it toward Asurat. His wounded hand—the one torn earlier. He didn't hesitate to fling the blood still dripping from it.
...Crackle!
"Kyhhaaaagh...!"
Asurat's body was once again engulfed in crimson lightning. But Kim Jangcheol didn't stop the beating.
He flung it. Again, and again, and again.
'Two... three... five...'
Slowly counting the numbers.
And in between the numbers, a memory surfaced.
That summer, when he was six years old, the sun was blazing overhead.
His mother smiling, asking to play hide-and-seek.
To open his eyes only after counting to 10, ten times.
The way she tightly held his hand, almost on the verge of tears.
He had counted so carefully.
Worried he'd mess up.
Feeling proud once he'd finally reached the end.
Lifting his head with a big smile.
And never seeing his mother again from that day on.
So perhaps, to him, that game of hide-and-seek never truly ended.
Crack!
"Eleven... huh?"
Lost in a sudden, fleeting memory—
Kim Jangcheol, mechanically discharging the eleventh bolt of lightning, paused.
He scrunched his nose slightly.
"…..Ah? I went all the way to eleven?"
Well, it couldn't be helped.
He had to make it ten, no matter what.
Otherwise, it'd just feel off.
Besides, to fix nitrogen, he had to keep blasting lightning anyway.
"So for now, just nine more."
…Cracka-crash!
"Kaaaaaa!"
Thanks to that (?),
Asurat—whose clothes were now completely reduced to ashes, left entirely naked!
The other Heavenly Kings shivered at the merciless scene, devoid of mercy, compassion, negotiation, or insurance!
And at that moment, another message popped up before Kim Jangcheol's eyes.
Ding-dong!
[You have violently torn off Asurat's clothes and left him naked.]
[This unique (?) experience grants you the benefit of unlocking a new system.]
[Inventory's equipment attach/detach feature, UNLOCK!]
"......"
Well, okay, got it.
But right now, I'm in the middle of something far more important. I've just poured everything into dropping lightning bolts twenty times. I need to see this task through first.
The first step toward solving the food shortage. Setting up for nitrogen fixation—that was it.
Kim Jangcheol turned to the trembling remaining Heavenly Kings.
"Sirgi."
"...Huh?"
Sirgi flinched while clutching the four blades protruding from her back. Kim Jangcheol pointed at Asurat.
"Tie him up tight and hang him up."
".....!"
Sirgi's face instantly turned red. A surge of immense humiliation struck her.
She thought, Tying up a naked man? Wasn't this a cruel act meant to humiliate both her and Asurat at the same time?
"But..."
"Do you refuse?"
"...."
Sirgi's face twisted. To be honest, she did hate it. But she couldn't say no. Otherwise, she'd end up just like Asurat.
"Your order... I obey."
She nodded, face contorted.
At her response, Kim Jangcheol quietly let out a sigh of relief. He had just crossed off one of his silent worries.
'Phew, thank god. Honestly, the thought of tying Asurat up myself was terrifying.'
Asurat was an incredibly crafty and resilient bastard. Even now, as he twitched on the verge of death, there was no telling when he might recover and scheme something.
And to get close to a guy like that, grunting while trying to tie him up?
The moment you let your guard down, your head might be lopped off.
So he had Sirgi do it instead. Fortunately, she followed the order. That was a relief. Thanks to that, Asurat was now tightly bound and hung up like a scarecrow on a stake.
...And thus, the living lightning rod(?) was complete!
Now it was time to accelerate nitrogen fixation.
Kim Jangcheol's gaze turned to the Archduke of Fog.
"Hartok."
"Yes?"
"Spread fog over this whole area. Dense enough that water drips from the air."
"...!"
Hartok's eyes widened in horror.
As the most cunning of the Four Heavenly Kings, he grasped Kim Jangcheol's intention the moment he heard the command.
'No way—he's gonna make it moist, so the lightning hurts more?!'
Of course, that was a complete misunderstanding.
Kim Jangcheol's real intention was different.
'Repeated lightning strikes, nitrogen fixed into nitrite, and to let that seep into the soil, moisture is essential.'
He had Hartok saturate the area with fog.
And from that moment on—
"Bloody—!"
Crack!
He splattered blood.
He rained down lightning.
Targeting Asurat, who had unwillingly taken on the role of lightning rod. Waiting for him to barely recover from being on the brink of death. Then striking again.
Waiting for recovery. Then striking again—
Thus, began a fruitful time of nitrogen fixation.
Of course, his hand hurt like hell.
Every time the bleeding slowed, he had to tear it open again.
But he didn't stop.
Because farming success was on the line.
And that meant his own survival.
'Even if it hurts… I endure it. That's how much nitrogen the soil's absorbing. A good harvest. Yeah. A bountiful harvest! Trahahahaha!'
Days passed.
Pain and pride crossed paths.
The soil steadily soaked up nitrogen.
And with it, the expressions of the Four Heavenly Kings grew increasingly horrified.
But Kim Jangcheol's plan didn't end there.
'...Even if I've dumped a decent amount of nitrogen, it's still not nearly enough.'
His gaze shifted to the surrounding soil. Thanks to several days of effort, the land now held some nitrogen and moisture. But this was only the beginning. There were still many mountains to overcome.
The first of them was improving the soil structure.
'It's not just that this dirt is lacking nutrients—the structure is complete garbage. It's a single-grain structure.'
Soil structure is divided into single-grain and granular. Single-grain soil has loose particles that clump densely, leaving no gaps.
'Like flour that's packed dry with no moisture.'
That kind of soil has no gaps between particles. Water gets trapped and doesn't drain. Air can't circulate. Deep water retention is terrible. Crops can't send roots deep. It's the worst possible condition for plant growth.
And that's why—
'I need to convert this to granular structure.'
Just as urgent as nitrogen fixation was improving the soil.
And for that, what he needed now was—
"...You all."
How many bolts had he dropped by now? How many times had Asurat passed out and come back?
By the time everyone gave up counting—
Kim Jangcheol lifted his head.
He slowly turned to look at the now-pale Four Heavenly Kings.
"In the name of the Demon King, I command you."
Hsss.
The Four Heavenly Kings tensed even more.
And he issued the command.
Utterly grave.
Utterly savage.
"Bring me shit."
"...!"
"As much as possible."
"...!"
Sirgi, Hartok, and Baal's shoulders jolted stiff as the command hit their eardrums.
In that moment, the three shared a simultaneous, perfectly synchronized misunderstanding with 100% sync rate.
'Shit? Did he just say shit?'
'Don't tell me... just because Asurat challenged him once...'
'He fried him, tied him, soaked him... and now he's going to smear him with shit too?!'
...Creak.
Their disbelieving eyes slowly, creakily turned to Kim Jangcheol.
He smiled innocently, as if wondering what was wrong.
'...So cruel! He's unimaginably cruel!'
And so, the Four Heavenly Kings' growing misunderstanding darkened further still.